Dialog Partners Lake House to Illuminate Mihintale Poson Aloka Pooja

 

The 57th annual Mihintale Poson Aloka Pooja organised by the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (Lake House) and co-sponsored by Dialog Axiata PLC, Sri Lanka’s premier connectivity provider, is set to take place at the Mihintale Raja Maha Viharaya from 15th to 17th June 2019.

This year will mark the 7th consecutive year Dialog has been a patron of the Aloka Pooja, which is Sri Lanka’s largest Poson ceremony, held at Mihintale, the iconic and historical landmark, where Arahant Mahinda Thera introduced Buddhism to Sri Lanka by preaching to King Devanampiyatissa in 236 BC. The annual event is considered to be one of Sri Lanka’s most integral showcases of religious and cultural expression where tens of thousands of Buddhist devotees gather and line up at the Mihintale Raja Maha Viharaya, the cradle of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, during the Aloka Pooja festival.

Dialog will be launching an interactive digital Poson experience - Dialog Nethrabhiwandana Poson Digital Aloka Pooja which can be accessed via poson.dialog.lk from 15th June 8.00 PM onwards, following the ceremonial initiation of the Poson Aloka Pooja at Mihintale Raja Maha Viharaya. The Digital Aloka Pooja was developed to provide a truly transcending and interactive experience to the Buddhist devotees across Sri Lanka and to those on pilgrimage to Mihintale, where anyone can be a part of Sri Lanka’s largest Poson Aloka Pooja, to illuminate a digital light adorning a digital Raja Maha Viharaya stupa on poson.dialog.lk which will also appear on a LED screen set up at the Mihintale Raja Maha Viharaya. It was developed in line with the traditional 84,000 Pahan Pooja ceremony, where the objective is to illuminate 84,000 digital lights on the website and on the LED screen set up at the Mihintale Raja Maha Viharaya, by midnight on Poson Poya Day.

Dialog, one of the main advocators of Sri Lankan culture and heritage, has been a long-term patron of many cultural events, including the Kandy Perahara, Kelaniya Duruthu Maha Perahara, Nawam Maha Perahara at Gangaramaya, Baudhaloka Vesak Kalapaya, Sri Buddha Rashmi Vesak Kalapaya at Gangaramaya, Katharagama Esala Perahara, Gatabaru Esala Perahara, and Kotte Raja Maha Vihara Perahara. This is also in line with the company’s many efforts towards the preservation of Sri Lankan traditions and heritage, most notably the construction of the vestibule for the Dimbulagala Aranya Senasanaya, contributing to the upliftment of Sri Lanka’s rich cultural history.